This invention relates generally to computer applications, and more particularly, to a method and system for providing shared virtual meeting services to one or more computer applications.
The growing complexity of the business environment has resulted in many business projects being assigned to workgroups rather than a single employee. The emergence of electronic data communications removed the requirement that workgroups be limited to personnel that are physically proximate and allowed workgroups to be assigned by the members"" skills instead of their physical location. For instance, members of these workgroups may now be physically distributed between different cubicles or offices on the same floor, different floors in an office building, different office buildings on a corporate campus or different campuses located in the same or different regions of the world. Workgroups may also be separated when workgroup members travel or telecommute.
Business reports, financial spreadsheets and design schematics are examples of projects that may be created by a collaborative effort of a workgroup. These projects are increasingly being produced using primary application programs operating on a personal computer that edit a data file. The data file will be referred to below as an xe2x80x9celectronic documentxe2x80x9d or simply xe2x80x9cdocument.xe2x80x9d The collaborative editing of an electronic document by workgroup members may be accomplished by printing a paper copy of the document and distributing the printed paper copy to each member of the workgroup for revision. One way to collaboratively edit the paper copy of the document may be to distribute a single paper copy sequentially from workgroup member to workgroup member so that the changes made by one workgroup member are incorporated into the document before subsequent changes are made. Another alternative is to distribute a paper copy to each member of the workgroup so that each member independently makes changes to the document which later have to be consolidated into a single, final, document.
Connecting personal computers to communication networks has relieved the workgroup members from forwarding paper copies, but in many cases the collaboration process remains the same. Instead of forwarding a paper copy sequentially from workgroup member to workgroup member, an electronic document is forwarded as an electronic data file from workgroup member to workgroup member over a computer network, with each workgroup member editing the electronic document as it stands revised by a previous workgroup member. The electronic document is then sent on to the next workgroup member. Also, like the distribution of paper copies to each workgroup member, a separate copy of the electronic document might be distributed electronically over a computer network as an electronic data file to all workgroup members simultaneously. The workgroup members revise their own copy of the electronic document and return it to a central workgroup member that is responsible for incorporating the various changes into a final document. To assist in these revision scenarios, some application programs provide tools for tracking changes made by various members of the workgroup. Examples of revision tracking tools can be found in Microsoft Word 97, manufactured by Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, Wash.
Instead of requiring each member of the work group to individually edit a document, it is desirable to allow for the collaborative editing of an electronic document in real-time by the workgroup members. The computers of the workgroup members are linked together in a virtual meeting using a virtual meeting application over a computer network. In a virtual meeting, the computer systems of the members of a workgroup (and other participants) are linked together electronically through a computer network with the ability to share a computer application on a meeting host""s computer to edit an electronic document. An example of a virtual meeting application is Microsoft NetMeeting, available from Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, Wash.
The prior art method for establishing a virtual meeting to collaboratively edit an electronic document is a cumbersome process involving manually switching between applications. This manual switching requires that the user understand all of the individual application""s user interfaces well enough to both form the virtual meeting and to enable the sharing of an electronic document for online collaboration. For instance, to enable the sharing of an electronic document, the meeting host must first start a document editing application and open a subject electronic document in that application. The meeting host then has to manually start the virtual meeting application, join the meeting participants to the virtual meeting and enable document sharing. When the meeting host manually returns to the document editing application, the meeting participants are able to collaboratively edit the subject electronic document in real-time.
Besides the inconvenience to the user caused by repeatedly switching between the document editing application and the virtual meeting application to initiate, administer, and end a virtual meeting, the user may be confused by an unfamiliar and perhaps inconsistent user interface presented by the virtual meeting application. In addition, the absence of the ability of the user to start and conduct a virtual meeting from within the document editing application may leave users unaware of the possibility that electronic documents can be collaboratively edited during a virtual meeting or may simply discourage collaborative editing because the user believes that the installation and operation of a separate virtual meeting application requires too much technical knowledge and effort to make the collaborative editing worthwhile.
Further, making changes to the state of the virtual meeting while it is in progress is cumbersome and beyond the skill level of many users. To make changes in the virtual meeting state (e.g., adding or deleting meeting attendees; enabling or disabling a meeting attendee""s ability to collaboratively edit a document in real time; ending the virtual meeting) requires switching from the document editing application to the virtual meeting application, changing the conferencing state in the virtual meeting application, and then returning to the document editing application. These steps require that the meeting host not only understand the user interfaces of both the document editing application and the virtual meeting application, the meeting host must also understand what functionality is provided by which application and how to access the functionality through that application""s user interfaces.
It would be desirable to provide a method and system for integrating the services provided by a virtual meeting application into one or more document editing applications so that a user can start, administer, and end a virtual meeting through the document editing application""s user interface. The integration of the virtual meeting application""s functionality into the document editing application should be transparent to the user and should appear to the user that the virtual meeting is being administered by the document editing application while the virtual meeting application is actually responsible for providing the services that form, monitor, and administer the virtual meeting. It is also desirable that the virtual meeting application display to the user some transient state information pertinent to the virtual meeting through portions of its own user interface that would be inefficient to recreate in the document editing application, while suppressing certain other user interface components that are better supplemented by components provided by the document editing application. Overall, a consistent user interface should be presented to the user for easily forming, administering, and ending a virtual meeting from the document editing application, with each application providing portions of that user interface as is most efficient. To accomplish both the sharing and supplementing of user interfaces between the document editing application and the virtual meeting application, the document editing application and the virtual meeting application should be able to communicate state change information regarding the virtual meeting between each other. The present invention is directed to providing a computer implementable method for accomplishing some or all of these goals.
In accordance with this invention, a computer implemented method for providing virtual meeting services and online collaboration capabilities to one or more document editing or xe2x80x9cprimaryxe2x80x9d applications is provided. The virtual meeting services and online collaboration capabilities are provided by a virtual meeting application but are controlled by and appear as part of the primary application""s user interface. The primary application and the virtual meeting. application share responsibility for the user interface, with some components of the user interface provided by the primary application and other components provided by the virtual meeting application. In general, the user interface for controlling the virtual meeting is provided as a supplemental user interface (relative to the virtual meeting application), while transient user interfaces are provided by the virtual meeting application to keep the user apprised of state changes in the virtual meeting that are under the control of that application. The actual communication functions that support the virtual meeting are provided by the virtual meeting application through an application interface exposed by the virtual meeting application in a global name space.
In accordance with other aspects of the invention, portions of a user interface for controlling and administering a virtual meeting are provided by the primary application while other portions of the user interface are provided by the virtual meeting application. The portions of the user interface provided by the primary application, referred to as xe2x80x9cSupplementary User Interfacesxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cSUI,xe2x80x9d seamlessly integrate control of the virtual meeting services provided by the virtual meeting application into the primary application""s user interface in a manner that is consistent and familiar to a user of the primary application. A supplementary user interface allows a user to directly form or join an online meeting from the primary application without having to even be aware of the existence of the virtual meeting application. In an actual embodiment of the invention, a virtual meeting is started by selecting a menu item from a menu provided in the user interface of the primary application. In an actual embodiment of the invention, a supplementary user interface includes a toolbar. The toolbar provides controls that include a list of current meeting participants involved in the virtual (online) meeting and command buttons to: add or remove meeting attendees from the virtual meeting; enable or disable online collaboration; start chat and whiteboard capabilities in the virtual meeting; or, end (hang up) the virtual meeting.
In accordance with yet further aspects of the invention, the supplemental user interfaces provided by the primary application are enabled in part through state change event notifications received from the virtual meeting application when the virtual meeting detects a state change in the virtual meeting. In turn, the supplemental user interface may send state change requests to the virtual meeting application that request a change of state in the virtual meeting such as adding or removing a meeting participant from the virtual meeting. After the virtual meeting application makes the state change that was requested, it sends a state change event notification to the primary application, which uses the information in the state change event notification to update the supplemental user interface (or for other control or informational purposes). For instance, as the virtual meeting application detects that a meeting attendee has been added or removed from the virtual meeting, it sends an event state notification containing such information to the primary application, which adds or removes meeting attendees from an online meeting toolbar.
In accordance with further aspects of the invention, the virtual meeting application provides transient user interfaces that appear as part of or on top of the primary application""s user interface (on one or more of the meeting participant""s computers). The transient user interfaces typically contain information regarding transient states administered by the virtual meeting application during the virtual meeting. For instance, in an actual embodiment of the invention if a meeting participant joins the virtual meeting, the virtual meeting application generates and displays a pop-up window informing the meeting participant that another meeting attendee has joined the conference. In addition to transient user interfaces displaying state information, a transient user interface may display instructions pertinent to an event that occurred in the virtual meeting. For instance, if a meeting attendee moves a mouse while not in control of a document collaboration, the virtual meeting application displays a transient user interface (a pop-up window) providing the instruction xe2x80x9cClick The Mouse To Take Control.xe2x80x9d The transient user interface may be displayed on one or all of the meeting attendees"" computers depending on the context of the event.
In accordance with still further aspects of the invention, one or more application interfaces may be exposed by the virtual meeting application in a global name space. Each application interface may be associated with one or more predefined modes that determine which of the virtual meeting user interface components that will be displayed or suppressed during an instance of a virtual meeting that is instantiated through that application interface. In an actual embodiment of the invention, portions of the user interface displayed to the user are provided by the virtual meeting application when events relevant to the formation and state changes occur during the virtual meeting. The primary application provides the general command and control functions through supplemental user interface components.
In accordance with still further aspects of the invention, a virtual meeting may be scheduled through the primary application""s user interface. The method and system for scheduling a virtual meeting are described in a co-pending commonly described U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/191,626, filed Nov. 13, 1998 and entitled Automatic Scheduling and Formation of a Virtual Meeting Over a Computer Network, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference.